Case Studies

Project Background

On behalf of the City of Sunnyvale, and its two partner cities, Mountain View, and Palo Alto, Sunnyvale manages an operating agreement for the publicly-owned transfer station and materials recovery facility (the SMaRT Station). HF&H assisted Sunnyvale with the procurement of the facility operator in 2000, 2007 and 2014.

Project Results

The 2014 project resulted in:

• Increase in compensation of about 0.7% with added processing services and an increase in diversion of about 4,000 tons per year.
• Flexibility for member agency organic program additions and modifications, and for innovative pilots such as every-other-week collection of solid waste.
• A range of technical options for composting or other processing for organic materials transferred through the SMaRT Station, at several facilities and at defined prices.

Earlier projects resulted in:

• An estimated rate increase of only 2.7%, despite the required increases in wages and benefits.
• The guaranteed minimum diversion level increased from 14.5% to 17.5%.
• Pre-determined modifications to contractor compensation during anticipated construction and for member agency implementation of food waste collection and processing programs.
• A $3.3 million annual savings (2000).